Fashion Week Exlusive

Good afternoon! This is Janeen Shewell-Hopkins coming to you live from rue St. Honore in Paris, France, where it is the kick off of Fashion Week! The cathedral St. Stephen, just across the street from our apartment hosted one of the major media events of the weekend today! Luckily, I was able to fight the crowds to get to my 1st floor apartment (which in America we call the second floor) where I was able to capture quiet a bit of the action. Randy Hopkins was busy video taping as well, so we'll provide that coverage as soon as we figure out how to do it!

There was mention that George Clooney was in the crowd which would not be surprising since his film is playing in French theartres as we speak. Several small, black Mercedes arrived to pickup celebs following the event. Photos were difficult to obtain, those celebs have got avoiding the camera down to a science, even one from one story up! What can I say the energy was immense and the fashions very avante-garde with a lot of color mixing with traditional saturations of  deep jewel-tones accented with of course basic black accessories to further define the line and flow of the fabric. Several newcomers as models on the runway were spotted and detained by media. One young man had that deer-in-the-headlights look of stupor while still coming off cool-as-a-cucumber for the paparazzi. Another young woman came out with her hair elegantly tangled in a new-age French twist with a floral blue design highlighted in white painted on her face. A few quick gracious poses and the paparazzo let pass.

Meanwhile, the camera are out again, as a dazzling blonde patiently pauses for photos and media interviews. I cannot see who she is, but she is gorgeous. Perhaps one of our viewers can identify her for me once I get her photos up. Oops. She thought she had a clear run for it, but more autograph hounds have surrounded her. "She can't get up the street," said Hopkins who was busy photographing as he spoke. "She can't even make it across the street. People keep coming up to her and she just keeps giving autographs."

Hopkins has just spotted another famous gentleman, again, whom he cannot identify until we get the proofs off the cameras. Police security it tight but friendly and the celebrities are smiling in full force. This is one of those moments that are planned for them to be seen and they are determined to do so. (It's those unplanned, private moments with family that are taboo.) Flashes are still going off and it's been more than an hour since the event closed doors. There was about a 20-minute photo session, then things quieted down, then after the crowds thinned out the Real Stars emerged, under cover of large hats and sunglasses, but you can't fool the masses. They can tell designer clothing and celebrity entitlement when they see it.

We had thought about calling down to the media to see if they wanted to shoot from our apartment for 100 euros, but then we realized we had exclusive rights to some quality images! Now, if we only had pre-arranged buyers for the photos! We didn't know what was happening this morning, they've had a couple of funerals since we've been here. This afternoon we had to ask our friend, Christophe, at the crepery, what was going on! We are surprised we didn't get mugged trying to get into our apartment. No one even realized the opportunity they missed until several of the media saw us photographing from our "balcony" and snapped a few "crowd shots" of us doing so.

Never a dull moment here. Well, actually, it's usually pretty dull. We were just on our way home to look up the address of the nearest Forever 21 so I could get me some new skinny jeans. Yes, there are times that I miss the convenience of Farmington Station!

We did hit an exclusive Antiquities Show on Champs-Elysees this afternoon. It was more expensive than any museum we've gone to yet, but well worth it. Much of what we saw were recent or two-hundred-year-old replicas of estate-owned artwork, usually crafted in a one-time-only event, number, sign and authorized. Surprisingly, they let me take photos, so I didn't have to spend 650 euros for the tiny little 1600th century wax letter seal that I had my eye on.

It's now Clean Up Time at the church. Chairs and pews are being returned to the chapel and moving trucks are loading up the luxurious set dressings from the show. Our apartment is freezing cold as we have had both windows open for more than an hour. Totally worth it! The crews are down to loading up the wooden pallets that formed the Cat Walk for today's event. The lights and sound systems are packed. The fabrics, signage and logos have all gone home to their headquarters, many of those along the Champs-Elysees. What a day it has been here on rue St. Honore. Well, that's a wrap for me! Remember to share the light!!! This is Janeen Shewell-Hopkins reporting live from Paris. On behalf of J.Hopkins Media, wishing each of you a Bon Soiree!